Esthers Anthea Blouse
The cotton poplin from February’s Classic Box works so well at holding the puff sleeves of the Anna Allen Anthea Blouse that Esther made this month.
No other box has ever met my need like this one. I mean it! Hayley read my mind for this fabric. The fabric is the thing my dreams are made of.
Ok, let me explain – I have been having a fantasy where I created a red and pink handmade collection. In my fantasy, I created a carefully curated collection with red and pink as the main colours. For years, I have enjoyed Emily Hallman’s blog with collections curated based on colours and I have dreamt of doing something similar. But as 2022 ran out, I became more convinced that I needed a collection and red and pink were going to feature heavily.
As such, I was terribly excited when I received this month’s fabric which plunged me out of a dream state and into a creating state. As soon as I handled the fabric, I knew that I wanted some sort of shirt in this fabric. I toyed with making a classic shirt with the Vogue 8772. As I considered it, I started thinking about how much work would go into making a classic shirt. I considered the work to fit the shirt and how many toiles I may need to ensure my shirt fitted nicely.
As it is the first garment in what I am hoping would be an awesome collection, I decided to set myself up for success so I can be motivated to make other things. What better way to set yourself up for success than to make an old fave? I don’t think one previous successful garment qualifies a pattern to be called an old fave but when that garment is one of your most complimented pieces, I guess you can call it whatever you want.
I decided to make the Anthea Blouse by Anna Allen. This pattern is very popular on the Insta scene and I completely understand why – the pattern is easy to fit and comes together very quickly. The pattern is a loose-fitting shirt without a shirt collar, stand or darts. All the classic features it lacks makes it such a quick and easy sew. The star of this blouse are the sleeves – they take a loose fitting shirt from basic to complete statement.
Based on my body measurements, I should have fitted perfectly into the size 12. However, I went 2 sizes down and this pattern fits me amazingly. With the amount of ease in the bust, I was able to get away with making a size 8 and not doing a full bust adjustment.
The fabric was awesome to work with. It is a cotton poplin so it is very stable, making it an absolute dream to cut, press and sew. In a bid to reduce my spending, I inserted some gold buttons from my stash. In retrospect, I think it would have been better to have bought some red buttons so I don’t have clashes with different colour accessories.
Bottomline is that I love this blouse and it has spurred me on to start creating my collection. I have already started sewing a pair of red trousers that would be part of this collection.